


There's Beauty and There's Danger Here (Split the Ice Apart)

by shiptoomuch



Series: 30 McKirk AUs [27]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Cute, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-12
Updated: 2013-12-12
Packaged: 2018-01-04 10:20:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1079833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shiptoomuch/pseuds/shiptoomuch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You can make ice? Out of nothing?” Jim feels a hand rest on his shoulder and suddenly that place on his body is about forty times warmer than the rest of him, which is typically very cold. “That’s really cool.”</p><p>Jim looks up through his tears and sees Leo smiling a little at him, his hazel eyes lit up. Jim looks toward his shoulder and sees that the other boy’s hand is icy and a tad blue. The shock sends a jolt of power through him and directly to his shoulder, which only makes it worse. He jumps away from the touch. “Don’t do that! I’ll hurt you!”</p>
            </blockquote>





	There's Beauty and There's Danger Here (Split the Ice Apart)

**Author's Note:**

> A little frozen!au that doesn't really spoil the movie that much, promise.  
> Like, not really the story AT ALL.  
> IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN FROZEN, GO. RIGHT NOW.

For the longest time, Leo is the only one who knows. (Beside his parents and a few servants) He finds out by accident, of course. Jim was just messing around with some snowflakes and his freaking servant’s son had to walk into the room.

He still remembers the clatter of his breakfast tray falling to the ground and breaking him out of his trance. Then a gasp and Jim knows he’s busted.

Jim sits up and lets the flakes fall down around him. Suddenly, everything around him is icy. He feels his chest tighten and he tries desperately not to lash out and hit this kid with ice. “Please leave.” He chokes out before burying his head in the blanket. He hears ice creep along the ground.

“You can make ice? Out of nothing?” Jim feels a hand rest on his shoulder and suddenly that place on his body is about forty times warmer than the rest of him, which is typically very cold. “That’s really cool.”

Jim looks up through his tears and sees Leo smiling a little at him, his hazel eyes lit up. Jim looks toward his shoulder and sees that the other boy’s hand is icy and a tad blue. The shock sends a jolt of power through him and directly to his shoulder, which only makes it worse. He jumps away from the touch. “Don’t do that! I’ll hurt you!”

Leo looks down at his hand, still frozen, but thawing, it seems. “It’s fine. Just a bit of frostbite, I think. It doesn’t really hurt, though.” He flexes his fingers and the color starts to go back to normal. He looks at the palm of his hand and jumps a little. “Woah, look at that!” 

He shoves his hand in the eleven year old prince’s face. Jim studies his palm and soon realizes that there is now a faint white outline on his hand. The outline of a snowflake. 

It almost looks like a scar. “Oh no, I’m so sorry. Nobody’s meant to know about it, even.” He feels so bad that he just wants to crawl under his blanket and not move for a week.

Not like he’s never done it before.

Leo shakes his head and shrugs. “It actually feels fine, now. And it’s just a scar. I’ll be fine.” He starts toward the door. “I’ll go get your breakfast. After you eat do you think you could show me some more of your magic?”

Jim shrugs at the boy. “Sure, why not?”  
-

When the boy comes back, his hair is ruffled a little and he’s grinning. He places the silver tray on the bed stand and jumps up next to where Jim sits. “Go on.”

“I don’t even know your name.” Jim mumbles, still not feeling totally safe. 

The boy huffs and rolls his eyes at Jim but he doesn’t seem angry like everyone normally does when Jim gets quiet. “My name’s Leo.”

Jim looks up through his lashes at Leo. “Oh. I’m Jim.”

“I know that.” Leo flicks his hair out of his face. It seems to have grown a little bit too long and Jim’s been noticing that it annoys the other boy. “You’re kind of the prince, dummy.”

Jim crosses his arms and feels something loosen in his chest. “I’m not a dummy! I’m eleven!” He says his age like it makes a difference in his intelligence. 

“And I’m thirteen, which means you should listen to me. I’ve got more life experience.” 

Jim smiles and makes a few snowflakes puff up in the air. Leo’s sarcastic smirk is soon replaced by a genuine grin.

After a few minutes of Jim making it snow in his room and creating icicles along the bedposts, Leo speaks up with a genuine curiosity. “Is it always like it was this morning, all scary and weird?”

Jim sighs and stops the flurry above them. “No. It’s just-when I get scared, I lose control. That’s why I never leave my room, really. I’m always scared.”

When his icy blue eyes meet Leo’s warm hazel, he realizes that maybe there’s one person who isn’t scared. Maybe Leo can be brave for him.

-

Everyone in the castle knows that Jim and Leonard are best friends. The prince who never talks to anyone and the servant’s son who’s too sharp for his own good.

Nobody really knows why Jim hardly talks to anyone else besides Leonard, but they don’t really care because it’s hardly ever cold in the castle anymore, for some reason.

-

After Jim’s parents die in the shipwreck on his sixteenth birthday, his whole life falls apart. His parents were the only ones besides Leo that actually knew and cared about him, and now they’re both gone.

Sam takes the throne and the kingdom is happy. He learns about Jim’s power and keeps the gates shut. He never talks to his brother, though. Simply nods at him on the off days that they might see each other.

It doesn’t happen often, Jim makes sure of it. Being able to freeze locks is actually a useful skill, it turns out.

Jim stays in his room, though, and doesn’t talk to anyone. Not Leo, not Sam, not the servants. He doesn’t talk, he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t do anything except sit by the fire and will himself to not be afraid anymore.

Leo comes in after about a week and sits silently next to Jim on the ground. It’s covered in ice, of course. Jim makes snowflakes fall around them, swirling faster than the fun ones he typically would create. “They’re gone, Bones.” He croaks out before falling into tears and the snowflakes fall from the air.

Jim cries and for a moment, he thinks Leo has left him. It would figure, really.

“Jim, I’m going to hold your hand now.” Leo says quietly.

Jim pulls into himself. “I’m not wearing gloves.” He tucks his hands under his armpits and refuses to budge.

But then there’s a hand on his elbow, pulling his arm and Jim lets it happen for some reason. For some reason, it seems like it’ll be okay.

Leo holds his hand tightly and their fingers wind together. Jim can practically feel the snowflake on the other boy’s palm burning into him.

When he looks down, there are no frozen hands and the ice around him is starting to shrink.

-

They hold hands more and more, most of the time when Jim’s wearing gloves because he still has a habit of getting scared and freezing Leo’s fingertips. Still, it’s warmer than anything he’s ever experienced in a life of ice.

It’s just something that they do, neither of them ever talk about it. They twine their fingers together when Jim makes his way down to the palace library to read and occasionally remove his gloves. “I love the feeling of paper so much.”

“Well, doesn’t that explain why you read with gloves on.” Leo rolls his eyes from the other end of the couch. Their legs are both on the extremely nice furniture, tangled together.

“Oh shut up. You know I can’t do that.”

“There’s nothing scary about reading, Jim.” Leo raises an eyebrow and looks down at their legs.

Jim realizes that their bare ankles are touching.

All his life it had been “conceal, don’t feel” and Jim thinks that maybe they were wrong.  
-

They’re sitting on the roof of the castle when it finally happens.

The sun is shining on them and Jim is laying back, relaxing on the lazy summer day. Surrounding him is a thin layer of ice. (He’s not particularly scared or anything, it’s just nice to keep cool.)

“You’re like my personal sun, Jim.”

Jim sits up and stares at his friend? boyfriend? guy he holds hands with all the time? with a confused look. “Bones, I do believe you’ve forgotten the fact that everything I touch literally turns to ice.”

Leo just laughs a little and takes Jim’s bare hand in his own. “Well, you aren’t turning me to ice. In fact, I think I’m warmer now.” He swings their hands back and forth. “So, you’re wrong, obviously.”

Jim stares at Leo in shock, warmth spreading through him instead of the ice that typically courses through his veins. He leans in a little and before he can stop himself, he’s pressing his lips against Leo’s.

For a few perfect moments, it’s like he doesn’t have powers and he’s just another sixteen year old having his first kiss.

Then he remembers and he shocks. His heart rate picks up and he starts freaking out because he’s kissing Leo on the rooftop. He’s kissing Leo, who he hardly ever touches.

He’s kissing Leo, who he thinks he might love a little.

(A lot.)

“Geez. You need to stop getting scared, Jim. You’ll freeze my lips off.” Leo pulls back and sucks his lips into his mouth, trying to warm them. A few seconds and they’re back out, perfectly pink and slightly wet.

Jim just has to lean in for another taste.

-

They try a few times to go further and further but they never quite make it.

It usually ends with them getting stripped down to their boxers and Jim has a hand down Leo’s pants when he gets nervous.

“Jim! I need that! Please don’t freeze it!”

(The discovery of blowjobs makes things a lot easier.)

-

Jim doesn’t mean for it to happen, really. It had just been a fight with Sam over opening the gates and Leo was never meant to be there at all.

Sam had insisted on opening the gates and Jim knew he was going to lose this one. Knew that he was either going to have to lock himself away or a complete disaster was totally possible.

So he had gotten angry and a little out of control. He could practically feel the anger and fear crackling through his blond hair. He throws his hands backwards and ice shoots out.

Directly into Leo. Into his heart.

Jim’s whole world stops. He knows what it means. He’s read all of the legends (and talked to a few trolls) and he knows that Leo will die within the next few hours.

The older boy is laying on the ground, groaning. “Jim, I’m so cold.”

It’s been three hours. His hair is white and snowflake patterns decorate nearly all of his skin. He’s paler than he’s ever been. “I’m so sorry, Bones. God, I’m so sorry.”

Jim honestly doesn’t know how to fix it. The love of his life is lying in his arms, minutes away from dying, and Jim doesn’t know how to fix it. Leo shivers again and Jim can’t help but start crying.

The once-brunet smiles up at Jim a little and weakly raises his arm to card his fingers through the prince’s hair. “Jim, you look so beautiful.” He rubs his thumb over Jim’s cheekbone, collecting the tears. “Don’t cry. You’ll be fine without me.”

Jim cries even harder. “No, I won’t be. I need you.” He whispers because he can’t muster up the power to do anything more. He’s not sure if Leo’s the one dying or if it’s him.

His money is on both. “I need you so much. I don’t know what to do without you anymore, Bones.” He shakes a little more, feeling unpleasantly cold for the first time in his life. “Please don’t leave me.”

Leo shakes his head a little and smiles again. “Can I ask for something silly?” His voice is growing weaker.

Jim nods rapidly. “Anything.”

“One more kiss? For me? Even if you get scared and freeze me again, it won’t really make a difference, will it?” Leo’s voice fades at the end.

Jim closes his eyes and leans in to kiss him. Their lips connect and its not cold, like both of them expected.

It’s warm warm warm. Hot, even. It’s like the sun and a fire and Jim has to jump away because he’s never felt something like that ever before.

He can’t believe his eyes when he finally opens them. The snowflakes on Leo’s skin are disappearing and his hair is returning to its normal color. It all ends with everything being back to normal. The only thing that remains is the scar on his right palm.

“Jim? Am I dead?” Leo blinks once, twice, three times before sitting up in shock. “Why does heaven looks like the castle and why are you here? Please tell me you’re not dead too.”

Jim laughs and throws his arms around Leo, all fear of him dying gone. “No, you’re not dead. You’re alive. So alive.” He pulls away and looks Leo in the eye before kissing him deeply. “God, I love you so much, Bones.”

“I love you too, Jim.”

All fear gone, period.

**Author's Note:**

> feedback appreciated!  
> tumblr: fabtrek


End file.
